Overview

According to Zuixin Geguo Guoqi Guohui Junqi Junhui[kyj04] (National Flags, Emblems, Military
Flags and Emblems of The World;最新 各国 国旗 国徽 〓旗 〓徽)
published in Beijing March 2004, these flags were promulgated on September 5th
1992.Nozomi Kariyasu, 17 July 2004

Update

The PLA Navy's reversal from flying the striped "Navy Flag" back to the plain
old PLA flag seems to be the result of following its flag protocol to the letter:
according to the book Atlas of Flags in China, the Navy Flag (along with the
Ground Force and Air Force Flags) are only intended to be used by Guards of Honour
in branch-specific occasions. This means the plain red PLA flag remains de
jure the sole War Flag and War Ensign of the Peoples Republic of China.

Also, the jackstaffs of these ships remain bare while in port; it is the PLA
Navy practice to fly jacks only while dressing ships.Miles Li, 30 September 2007

The People's Liberation Army

by Željko Heimer
Proportions: 4:5

The flag of the armed forces of the People's Republic of China (the People's
Liberation Army [PLA]) is red with a golden star in the upper hoist, but the
star is smaller than on the national flag. Next to the star are three small
lines, the Chinese numerals for "8" and "1", which stand for "August 1", to
commemorate the establishment of the PLA in 1928, after the Nanchang Uprising
(Crampton, The World of Flags, 1990,
p.28). W. Smith adds that the star represents the victories of the Army in the
fight against foreign imperial forces and unification of the land.Roy Stilling, 24 June 1996

According to the Great Chinese Encyclopedia, the flag of the People's Liberation
Army is in the proportion of 4:5.Miles George Li, 09 April 1998

This is a 'tri-service' flag, used primarily as a ceremonial colour by regiments
and larger units, as well as by defence academies.
Source: PLA DailyMiles Li, 12 July 2004

Ground Forces Flag

The Ground Force Flag is similar to the PLA Flag, with the lower 40% being
grass green.
Source: PLA DailyMiles Li, 12 July 2004

Reports on 'The World' on BBC4 TV on 18 April about the visit of President
Hu to the U.S. were accompanied by (no doubt stock) footage of a parade by the
Chinese army. The flag being carried seems to be what is shown.

The green is lighter than we show, and the device at the upper hoist isn't
self-evidently a gold star. André Coutanche, 20 April 2006

Naval Ensign

The Chinese Navy jack is the same as Army flag except that the lower half
has three blue and two white horizontal stripes of equal width. The Chinese
Naval jack is also the Naval Ensign.Miles George Li, 03 April 1998

Album des Pavillons, correction
29 specifies that the stripes are blue pantone 287c and white. The rendering
by quadrichomie makes it seem dark blue. The proportions appear to be 2:3.Armand Noel du Payrat, 09 April 1998

Before 1996, the People's Liberation Army flag, rather than the national
flag, was the naval jack and ensign.Miles Li, 8 June 2001

The PLA Navy has never had rank flags, and I believe this will remain the
status quo for a long time. Ranks have always been a sensitive issue in the
PLA, as it is associated with classes in a supposedly classless society. Between
1955 and 1965 there were Soviet-style ranks in the PLA, but these were abolished
during the Cultural Revolution and beyond. It was not until 1988 a somewhat
streamlined rank system was adopted to raise morale. Even so, it would still
be politically correct for senior officials to have no special privileges
(such as the use of rank flags). This is the reason why the PLA Navy apparently
has never had rank flags.Miles Li, 10 June 2001

Over the years there have been uncertainties as to the correct flags
to be flown on Chinese warships. Now the People's Liberation Army Navy
(PLAN) seems to have settled down on a set of practice, which varies
depending on occasions:

Semi-Dress:
Jackstaff - not used
Masthead - National Flag
Ensign (stern while moored, gaff while underway) - PLA Flag
Dressing Line - not used

Undress:
Jackstaff - not used
Masthead - not used
Ensign (stern while moored, gaff while underway) - PLA Flag
Dressing Line - not used

It should be pointed out that the PLAN practice of having a special
ensign for ceremonial occasions, while unusual, is not unique: Notably
the former Soviet Navy had honour ensigns (with the Guards ribbon, the
Order of Red Banner, or both) to be flown by ships so entitled on
ceremonial occasions, and (I believe) this tradition has been carried
over into the current Russian Navy.Miles Li, 06 October 2013

Chinese Navy Jack

image by Kazutaka Nishiura
17 July 2015

The jack has red field with a blue horizontal stripe in the center with white
fimbriations and red five pointed star with yellow fimbriation and Chinese
character 八一 = 8.1 in yellow inside which represents date of foundation of
Peoples Liberation Army on Aug 1st 1927.
The imagee based on the photo of the jack.Nozomi Kariyasu, 17 July 2015

Chinese Navy Lifeboat Ensign

image by Kazutaka Nishiura
18 July 2015

The ensign has light blue field and the naval ensign in the canton
with red and white lifesaver ring in the fly used in 1950ís.
The image was drawn based on the photo of the
ensign.Nozomi Kariyasu, 18 July 2015

I believe the two Chinese Navy Flags (Navy Jack and Lifeboat Ensign) are
possibly spurious.
To begin with, I have seen the original photos of the flags, and these look too
new to be of 1950s vintage.
Moreover, no publications of note from China have illustrated these flags - not
in the Encyclopedia of China (First edition completed in 1993, with only the
Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army Flag and the People's Liberation Army
Flag illustrated), not in the Atlas of Flags in China (2003, with the PLA Flag
plus that of the three services), and not in any major Chinese military
enthusiasts' website.
Finally, it was only since 1992 that stripes have been added onto the bottom of
the PLA flag to denote the three services; none of which has a single dark blue
stripe. This makes the 'Lifeboat Ensign' look like a fantasy variant of the
several historic Soviet lifeboat ensigns.
Unfortunately my words of vexillological prudence might be too little, too late
- an image of the 'Navy Jack' has already been uploaded onto Wikipedia...Miles Li, 18 July 2015

I found the photos of these two flags from a Chinese blog:
http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_44634b670100pvrh.html
http://blog.163.com/swq20091001@126/blog/static/130068914201382010229646
It seems to me that in 1950s PLA Navy may have separated navy jack and rank
flags. However these flag may have been abolished due to the radical political
movements in 1960s. From a news
website I found the following records:
"首次举行军舰命名授旗典礼1950年4月23日华东军区海军在南京草鞋峡江面举行军舰命名授旗典礼，华东军区海军司令员兼政治委员张爱萍将舰艇命名状、军旗、舰首旗、舰长旗授予各舰长、政委。"
(Translate: "The first naming and flag granting ceremony for battleships, were
conducted at Caoxiexia (of Yangtze River) in Nanjing by East China Military Area
Navy Command on April 23, 1950. Zhang Aiping, Naval Commander and Commissar of
East China Military Area Navy Command, presented naming certification, army flag,
naval jack, commander flag to each captain and commissar.")
Another personal blog also mentioned navy jack and rank flags of PLAN.
"中国人民解放军于1950年4月做出规定，海军旗由中国人民解放军军旗代，并曾规定舰长旗、舰首旗；海军通信旗使用国际信号旗，补充6面特种旗"
(Translate:
"As in PLA Navy rules in April 1950, PLA army flag was the substitute for naval
ensign. Commander flag and naval jack were also specified. International signal
flags were used in naval communication, and six special flags were added.")
For imagery evidences, unfortunately I haven't find other historical photos for
the jack. As in PLAN flag code, naval jack is only used when the ship is fully
dressed. The jack is hardly to be seen in action. If anyone is interested in
further research, I recommend
this website for photo sources of PLAN ships.Eric Soong, 26 July 2015

Various Chinese sources on the internet seem to contradict each other over
this matter. One one hand some websites do mention the presentations of war
ensigns, naval jacks and commander's flags in the 1950 ceremony. On the other
hand, Baidu Baike (the Chinese equivalent of Wikipedia) has one article with two
different answers, one being the naval jack and commander's flag were indeed
proposed but never approved, their designs are presumed lost, the other being
only one flag is presented to each warship during its commissioning ceremony.
The best evidence I have managed to find is a
photograph from 1958 showing the naval jacks, which were probably the same
as the PLA Flag.Miles Li, 26 July 2015

Many documents in China might be lost because of radical political movements
in 1960s and 1970s. However, in light of Sino-soviet relations in 1950s, the
flags probably were recorded in Russian or East European archives. May those who
live in Russia or East Europa can help us to inquiry the historic documents? Akira Oyo, 27 July 2015